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CAUSALITY OF A GIVEN CANCER AFTER KNOWN RADIATION EXPOSURE 24 original typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths, word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific formatting, however, cannot be About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the original work has been recomposed from XML files created from the original paper book, not from the retained, and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted. Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative version for attribution. Causality of a Given Cancer After Known Radiation Exposure Victor P. Bond A person's chief concerns after exposure to low-level radiation are the probability (risk) of developing a cancer and, to a lesser extent, the risk of the exposure's causing a genetic defect in a descendant (National Research Council, 1972, 1980; United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation [UNSCEAR], 1982). This paper deals with carcinogenesis, examining the possible causal relationship between carcinogenesis and a specific exposure to a carcinogenic agent, especially ionizing radiation. With increasing frequency in personal injury claims, specific cancers in specific individuals are alleged to have been caused by some specified radiation exposure, which was sustained while the individual was in the employ of a given organization (Schaffer, 1984). Questions of liability and compensation then arise, which may be addressed either within the framework of worker's compensation or by tort litigation. The question of cause and effect is central; more specifically, what agent(s) might have been the cause(s) of the harm that, if sufficiently severe, could have resulted in the quantal response1 of cancer. It is possible that more than one form of related harm, each ineffective alone, could interact in such a way that the combination initiates a quantal response. What is at issue would appear to be purely medical matters to be addressed by a physician trained in toxicology. However, the quantal response of cancer, particularly that from low-level radiation exposure, is sufficiently distinctive in its genesis to draw into question the adequacy of the traditional medical approach to determining causation. In support of this contention, this paper first discusses the meaning of exposure to hazards and the risk of
